Resolutions
by Seraphim Starlight
Summary: G.U. Postgame. There was still some unfinished business for both of them. Haseo X Atoli
1. Letter

**Resolutions**

**By: seraphimstarlight**

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own dot hack GU (or any of them for that matter) , so please don't sue.

**Author's Note:** Contains spoilers for all GU games.

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Haseo, the Terror of Death (now more widely known as the thrice-crowned Arena Emperor) had just finished restocking Canard's guild shop with the spoils of his latest trip through a high-level dungeon when he noticed the new mail icon flashing persistently in the corner of his display. He hesitated, uncertain if it was worth logging out just to check it. Through he had just returned from a level 140 dungeon with Sakubo and Endrance—what a pair _they_ made—he had planned on heading for a level 145 dungeon (slightly challenging at his level of 141) with Kuhn and Atoli. Even though the fight against Cubia was long since over, there was no sense in letting one's skills grow dull.

He glanced back at the flashing icon one more time before deciding to ignore it. The email could wait until later. He, on the other hand, had to catch his party members while they were still online.

He brought up a list of his friends' member addresses, quickly finding the two he needed and dispatching flashmails to both. Kuhn responded almost instantaneously (as he always did) and said he'd be right there. Moments later, the blue-haired steam gunner appeared by Breg Epona's Chaos Gate.

"Haseo," he called as he jogged over to where the white-haired adept rogue was waiting by the save shop. "I got your mail. A level 145 dungeon? You're really pushing the envelope, aren't you?"

"Not really," Haseo shrugged, "I just want to keep up my skills. I've been fighting off a lot of high level PKs these days."

"Attempts on _you_?" Kuhn asked, disbelieving.

"Of course not," he snorted, "I meant on other players."

Kuhn laughed and slapped his friend heartily on the back. "I guess you're still a PKK at heart!"

To the steam-gunner's surprise, Haseo hesitated for a moment.

"You know," the rogue said slowly, "I don't really think of it that way anymore."

"You don't?" Kuhn asked, raising an eyebrow.

Haseo shrugged again and glanced away towards the Chaos Gate. "I don't know," he sighed, "but it's not just about hunting PKs. It's more like—it's not right that those people take advantage of those weaker than them—those who can't defend themselves. I mean, if those PKs want to fight so badly, I'd rather they fight me instead."

Kuhn tapped his chin thoughtfully. "So…I guess that makes you like…the guardian angel for new players, right?"

"Ugh. When you put it like that…"

"But, you know, Haseo, you've sure changed."

"What does that mean?" he asked defensively.

"Ahh…nothing, nothing." A pause. "It's just that, before, when we first me, I couldn't ever imagine you saying something like that, let alone doing something for someone else's sake. Looks like Atoli's trained you well!"

There was a moment of profound silence. Then…

"WHAT?!"

Haseo's irate outburst cut through the ambient noise of the plaza, drawing stares from all present.

"Now, now," Kuhn sighed, patting his friend's shoulder placatingly, "you know it's true. You've changed since you met her—willingly or unwillingly," he added when the rogue "humph"-ed and turned away stubbornly.

"Speaking of Atoli," Haseo muttered, "where is she? I sent her the flashmail nearly twenty minutes ago."

"For starters," Kuhn corrected him, "it's only been about 10 minutes since you contacted me. Are you so anxious to see her that it felt like 20? Okay, okay! Stop glaring like that! It's freaking me out! I was only kidding! But you know, Haseo," he said, suddenly serious again, "she has her own life. She doesn't have to come running every time you call."

The first response that came to mind was "_but she always does_" but he bit his tongue, knowing that saying that would take the conversation places he didn't want to go. The second response of "_but I'm used to having her around_" wasn't very helpful either, so instead he opted for a muttered "Fine," adding, "but I'm not going without a healer," almost as an afterthought.

"Well, you could always call…what's her name? Shino?" Kuhn suggested.

Haseo considered the suggestion for a moment, agreeing half-heartedly when he realized that she was, indeed, the only other Harvest Cleric he knew.

"But she's not as high a level," he said as he scrolled down the list of member addresses and dispatched the flashmail, "so we'll have to go to a lower level dungeon."

"Sure, whatever," Kuhn said. "I'm going to go stock up in the meanwhile. I'll meet you back here in a bit."

"10 minutes, Kuhn," Haseo said firmly, "no running off with every girl you see."

"Yes, _mother_," the steam-gunner laughed as he headed off in the direction of the town.

Haseo, meanwhile, continued scrolling through the list of keywords, trying to find a suitable combination. The first gave a level 116 dungeon; the next gave a level 150 dungeon. He wanted a field—something one level and easy to navigate—something that _she'd_ probably like…

Where was she? It wasn't like her to not even answer when contacted. He opened up his friends list again and scrolled to her name. Sure enough, the icon beside it indicated she was online. Maybe she was away or maybe asleep? But she normally signed off or set her status to busy if it were that.

Maybe she had simply forgotten to change her status? He could just imagine. She was, after all, the type who could fall asleep in the middle of a field. The other alternative, however, was that she was actually busy (though the idea seemed painfully foreign to him since she did end up spending the majority of her time with him nowadays). Busy? Doing what? The question "with who?" nagged incessantly at the back of his mind, but he brushed it away, refusing to consider it.

She was probably asleep. That was all.

He turned his attention back to finding a suitable keyword. After a few attempts at random generation he finally found a suitable field. It was only level 134 (lower than the dungeon he had just returned from this morning) so it was unlikely he'd level, but that was just as well. Having leveled together for so long, he and Atoli were the same level, and it just didn't feel right to go on without her. Hell, it just _didn't_ feel right without her.

"Haseo?"

He turned quickly, coming face to face with a Harvest Cleric with a large hat and a wing-like cape.

"At—ah—Shino," he said, catching himself, "how long have you been waiting?"

"Not long," she assured him. "Were you looking for a keyword?"

"Yeah. I finally found one though. Σ Unsheathed Overripe Emotion. We can leave as soon as our last party member returns." He glanced in the direction of the city.

Twenty minutes passed and Kuhn still didn't show up despite the numerous and increasingly hostile flashmails that Haseo sent (which led to Shino suggesting that perhaps _that_ was why Kuhn had not returned). In the end, Haseo had worked himself into such a furor that Shino ended up suggesting that maybe it would be best if he logged out for a while. At first he had wanted to argue, but he once again noticed the "new mail" icon flashing in the corner of his display.

"Yeah," he had agreed at last, "I guess I'll log out and check my mail or something. Sorry about this, Shino."

"It's all right," she smiled, " it was good to see you again."

"You too."

"See you again."

"Yeah," he said to her fading form.

When she had gone, he quickly brought up and selected the Logout command. Slowly, The World blurred and dissolved before his eyes, and he found himself staring at the start-up screen. Removing his M2D, he selected "Quit" from the menu, returning him to his desktop.

He scrolled quickly through the circular interface until he reached the mail icon. Clicking on the icon brought up his inbox. As it turned out, there were several e-mails—mostly letters of challenge from Arena Contenders (those had been coming more frequently than ever)—and buried amongst them was one e-mail in particular that caught his eye.

"Atoli…"

Quickly, he glanced at the send date, noticing that it was, in fact, sent about an hour earlier, before he had ever contacted her. His previous irritation with the Harvest Cleric quickly dissipated.

So she _had_ contacted him (not that he cared mind you…it was just nice to be kept in the loop).

He opened the e-mail, expecting it to be at least several pages long as Atoli tended to ramble, jumping from whatever topic she was on to whatever new idea happened to cross her mind. So, he was understandably surprised when he noticed that the e-mail contained only two lines.

_I'll be waiting at the Beast statue at Σ Beloved Maiden's Emotion. Please come alone._

The message was uncharacteristically concise and cryptic. Normally, if she had a concern she addressed it in an e-mail or asked to meet at one of the lost grounds. It was unusual for her to suggest meeting in a dungeon. Even stranger was that she had likely headed there on her own. She would have to fight her way through that dungeon all on her own to reach the beast statue, and, generally, Atoli wasn't one for fighting. Not that she couldn't, mind you (in battles she generally fared as well as he) it was just that she preferred not to fight. And for her to willingly fight her way to a Beast statue on her own just to deliver a message? What was it that she couldn't say through e-mail?

Briefly, his mind drifted back to the last time she had called him out like this: shortly after they had discovered Tri-Edge's true identity. An unsettling feeling turned in his gut. Then, he had not been ready to hear what he was certain she was going to say. (Contrary to popular belief he was not _completely_ oblivious or socially inept.) But now…

Before, his reaction would have instantaneous, ranging from "Hell no!" when they had first met, mellowing to a "Now's not the time for this" and evolving now to…what?

If asked, what would his response be? He had never really stopped to think about it. There had never been any need to. She had always been there—wanted or not—and, strangely, he found that he had grown accustomed to having her around. As, for the longest time she was the group's only healer, he had been forced to rely on her both in and out of the Arena. As time passed and they went through more and more together and they both grew stronger and stronger he began to view her more as a companion than a burden.

It hadn't really hit him until after the Kudan quest. Now only had she changed but so had he. And now…what was happening? It felt like something was one the verge of changing for the worse—like the ground was being pulled from beneath his feet.

He glanced back at the clock. It had been over and hour since she had e-mailed him. She'd probably been waiting quite a while.

The uncomfortable feeling settled over him again, but he dismissed it. Whatever she wanted, there was not point in keeping her waiting. After all, he owed her at least that much.

He closed the e-mail window and logged back into The World. Slipping on the M2D, he found himself back in front of Breg Epona's Chaos Gate.

"I'm going on my own," he muttered to no one in particular, "I should at least take some healing items."

After purchasing the necessary items and customizing his accessory with a Boost Candle to double the effect of those items, he headed over to the Chaos Gate and picked out the correct keywords, finding them quickly.

He stared at the display for a long moment.

She _had_ said Σ Beloved Maiden's Emotion, right? So why was it showing in a level 141 field? No, not a field, but a dungeon! One of this Shinto shrine types! The type he knew they both liked least.

Level 141! He couldn't believe that she'd go to such an area on her own. Would she even make it to the Beast Statue? Hell, would he? But he was not one to shy away from a challenge. He did, however double check his inventory and equipment before heading out.

He reselected the keywords from the list and took a deep, steadying breath before he clicked OK. He had the feeling that things were about to get a whole lot worse.

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**Author's Note:**

So, this is my first foray into dot hack fanfiction. To tell the truth, I had a lot of fun working on this so far. It was so amusing to actually generate random dungeons and test them. But, it was so funny how the actual dungeon for Σ Beloved Maiden's Emotion turned out in my game. It provided a lot of inspiration for the next part, lol.

At any rate, I am a bit worried about how I characterized Haseo in this. I'm not sure I got it quite right. I think I made him more mellow and introspective than he actually is. Oh, well, I guess there's just trial and error for now. The next part is from Atoli's POV anyway, and I should be able to characterize her better.

To tell the truth, I wasn't originally a fan of this pairing (originally, I liked Haseo X Alkaid more), but, at some point, Atoli really grew on me. I'm not really sure when it happened, but I really grew to like her. And so came about this fanfic.

At any rate, I'll get to working on the next part. Until next time!


	2. Arrival and Departure

**Resolutions**

**By: seraphimstarlight**

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own dot hack GU (or any of them for that matter) , so please don't sue.

**Author's Note:** Thank you so much for all your support! I'm glad that people are enjoying this fic! I'll do my best for all of you!

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Atoli glanced at the chronometer that ticked away silently in one corner of her display. It had been well over an hour since she had e-mailed Haseo, and he still hadn't arrived. But, it wasn't totally unexpected. He was busy now—probably more than he had ever been—and probably had better things to do than head all the way out to some random dungeon just because she had asked him to. In fact, he had probably taken one look at the e-mail (which seemed downright cryptic the more she thought about it) and deleted it. After all, he wouldn't come all the way here. Not for her.

There was only one person for whose sake moving heaven and earth would seem an insignificant feat for him.

Shino.

Atoli perched on the treasure chest at the Beast Statue. Her feet didn't hurt—or rather—they couldn't, but the world had started to blur and spin and event he act of sitting down relieved some of the dizziness. Though on that day at Hulle Granz he had chosen to come after her instead of remaining with Shino, she wasn't going to delude herself into thinking it meant anything. She had to be realistic, no matter how much it hurt.

He had probably felt sorry for her—as people always did—sorry that she wasn't good enough, sorry that she had, in so many words, lost, sorry that her defeat had been so clearly emphasized.

Why had Shino called her to Hulle Granz that day? There was no reason that Atoli could see for it, unless Shino wanted to make it clear to Atoli that Haseo was hers and hers alone.

The world blurred again. But…there was no reason for Shino to think that Atoli had any such claim on Haseo (after all, she had been "asleep" the whole time." And, at any rate, when Atoli looked at the whole situation realistically, there wasn't anything—spoken or otherwise—to even imply that they were anything more than friends.

Then again, maybe even "friends" was pushing it.

Atoli sighed and eyed the nearby Chaos Gate that spun silently in the corner of the Beast Temple.

Maybe she should just leave and save herself the trouble. He hadn't shown up yet, so she could just leave and e-mail him an apology later. And even if he was angry with her for leaving, it wouldn't matter anyway…

Another glance at the chronometer.

But, of course, that was is he was even coming. It had been nearly an hour and a half since she'd sent the e-mail and there was still no sign of him—not even a flashmail to say he was on his way.

He probably wasn't coming.

She thought about waiting another ten minutes, but the longer she waited the more her uncertainty grew. With each second that passed she grew more desperate to leave, but each time she found some way to convince herself to stay.

First, she drained her SP practically to zero by casting LaPha Repth over and over again, saying that she'd wait until her SP had regenerated completely. That time passed and there was still no sign of him. Then, she spent another ten minutes staring at the Beast Statue, trying to remember if all Beast Statues looked the same. After that, when he still hadn't arrived, she considered heading back into the dungeon and fighting a bit but quickly reconsidered. (She had used up all of her Smoke Screens just trying to get to the Beast Statue in the first place, and she didn't feel quite confident that she'd make it back to the statue without them.)

Another fifteen minutes passed. Many times she looked towards the Chaos Gate; many times she looked away, trying to convince herself to stay.

She sighed.

"He's not coming," she said to herself.

_Not that I really expected him to._

She stood and started for the Chaos Gate.

After all, why would he waste time on her now that he had Shino? There was no place for her in his life any more. Maybe there had never been in the first place.

She brought up the Chaos Gate menu, cursor hovering over the "Yes" on the "Return to Town" dialog box.

Maybe just five more minutes. Maybe…just maybe.

She shook her head. No. That was just optimism speaking, and she knew better than to listen to it. It would only hurt more in the end if she did.

Her hand moved for the Confirm button.

"Where are you going, Atoli?"

At first, she thought she was hallucinating. After all, she hadn't even heard the door to the temple open. If it was a hallucination, it was best to ignore it. She didn't dare turn. Instead, she shut her eyes tightly.

_Be realistic. Be realistic._

"Atoli…?"

There was the voice again, not angry but irritated. That too had to be a hallucination. After all, since when was he anything but angry at her? Since when was she anything but a disappointment?

For a long moment all was silent. Maybe she had finally regained her tenuous hold on her sanity.

Then, "Hello…? Are you there?"

She opened her eyes now and nearly jumped out of her skin. He had circled around in front of her and was now waving his hand in front of her face and was leaning so close to her that their faces were scant inches apart. If he leaned any closer…

"I-I'm here! I'm here!" she burst out, taking a few stumbling steps backwards. Even if it was only their characters, she didn't trust herself to get so close to him.

He stared for a long moment, an undefinable expression crossing his features. "Oh," he said straightening up, "I thought you were away. That's all."

Oh. That was all. Of course.

"I-I'm sorry," she said quickly, "I was just…rearranging my inventory. That's all." She bit her lip. Really, she hated lying to him, but surely, he would be upset if she told him she was about to leave after he had come all the way down here.

He considered her words for a moment before saying, "Oh. Right." His tone was cautious. Maybe he didn't believe her. She wanted to ask him why it had taken him over two hours to get here, but she didn't want to make him even madder at her than he probably already was.

He was watching her now as though trying to figure out what she was thinking. Maybe he'd gained telepathy along with the other abilities of Xth form because at that moment he said, "I didn't mean to keep you waiting that long. I didn't check my mail until a little while ago, and then I headed right over here. And then…" he paused, and his face twisted into an utterly exasperated expression. "And then… that dungeon! That was…the worst I've ever been through! Those damned Carries! Ugh. If I ever have to see another one again…! And then, all those trap rooms! I was already low on Chim after the dungeon this morning—and then…Mecha Grunty…! I spent forever trying to get enough Chim to escape those rooms! And…four floors?! Agh! This has to be the absolute _worst_ dungeon ever!

He raked his hand through his hair, face flushing, and doubled over, all but gasping for breath after his full-fledged rant.

At any other time she might have found his outburst funny—downright hilarious in fact—but right now, she could find little humor in the situation. All she could see was that he was angry—with her. It was the only possibility after all. He hadn't wanted to com here—hadn't wanted to bother with her, but he had come out of politness and now was regretting it. That had to be it.

_Be realistic. Be realistic._

"I-I'm sorry," she said quickly, not trusting her voice to remain steady. _Don't show any weakness._ "I guess… I should have picked a Lost Ground instead."

He stared. "Why…are you apologizing?" he asked, clearly confused. "The dungeon was just irritating. That's all."

_Be realistic. Be realistic._

"But, I should have thought about what would be best for you. I didn't. I'm sorry."

He folded his arms across his chest. "Look, it's okay. You don't have to apologize."

_Be realistic. Be realistic._

"Oh…I'm…."

He frowned. "Atoli…"

She bit down on her lip to keep it from trembling.

After a long moment he sighed. "So…what did you want to talk about anyway?"

Bluntess. Irritation. He probably wanted her to hurry up so he could leave.

She looked away towards the ground. "Oh…umm…."

Her voice trailed off.

"Atoli?" there was something in his voice she could not name. She dared not _think_ what it might be.

_Be realistic. Be realistic._

"Haseo…I—"

He was watching her intently now, and she wanted to look away but couldn't bring herself to. Instead, she drank in his presence. Even if it was only his character, he was still there, standing with her for what might be the last time. She had been foolish before—foolish to think that this would ever go anywhere—foolish to think that he—that _anyone_ would ever choose her, but she was not so foolish as to waste what might be her last opportunity to see him.

No. Not _might_, but _would_. After all, she knew better than anyone how this would turn out. This was the end. It had to be—for both their sakes.

No longer would her heart jump whenever she received an e-mail or party invitation from him only for her spirits to fall when she realized he'd only called her because he needed a Harvest Cleric. No longer would he have to tolerate her. No longer would she be a burden to him. No longer would he have to pity her. It would all be over for the better.

But still…it hurt to think that she would never see him again. It hurt more than she had thought it could.

Never. Not even once would she be able to see him again. That was for certain.

She hesitated. Did she really want to do this?

_Be realistic. Be realistic._

But…she had to. It was the only way. She had drawn this out as long as possible, hoping to avoid this moment, but…there was no sense in it.

_Be realistic. Be realistic._

It would only hurt more in the end if she drew it out now.

She opened her mouth to speak, but could not find her voice.

_Just say it!_

Her voice cracked, but she forced the words out.

"I…I'm quitting The World."

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**Author's Note:**

Ah, sorry about the cliffhanger, but this seemed as good a place to end it as any. Originally, this piece was supposed to be longer, but I figured that the end to this section would be better written from Haseo's point of view.

I'm not completely happy with how this part turned out, so it might be receiving some minor edits in the near future. Nothing too much though.

At any rate, I decided to try characterizing Atoli a little bit differently than she might otherwise be charactertized. Normally, I think of her as the introspective one. But, I think this story's going to flip that around a bit. He's trying to figure out what going on, so I'll portray him as more introspective, and she's trying not to think too deeply into things, so she'll be less introspective. I hope this works out all right, lol.

Still, it was interesting to right this part. Lol, my trip through that dungeon was practically the same as Haseo's rant. I'd never personally experienced such a frustrating dungeon except for maybe those teleport ones. And fighting my way down the four floors was so harassing that I almost resorted to using Smoke Screens the entire way down lol.

At any rate, this fanfic will probably be about four or five parts total. I'll do my best to stick to that.

Until next time!


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